Stalker: A Christmas Version
by XV-Dragon
Summary: A Christmas version of Wilhelmina Vandom's 'Stalker' A Young stranger has been following and caught by Susan. finding out the girl is sick she takes her mome and lets stay for the holidays, only to find out a shocking secret on Christmas Eve. OneShot fic.


AN: I would like to thanks Knight for helping with this and Wilhelmina Vandom for lending me the Stalker idea for it. I wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H.

Stalker: A Christmas Version

It was four days until Christmas in Heatherfield, and people were still finishing up their holiday shopping. This included a woman in her early thirties with long black hair, dark brown eyes, with a slight tan to her skin.

This was Susan Vandom, a highly skilled employee of Simultech or would be after the holidays were over. Her boss 'encouraged' her to take a long vacation because Susan was worker way to hard for it to be healthy. Normally a hard worker in a blessing to a company like Simultech, but when her boss actually looked at her regular work hours for the last few years, he realized Susan got in hour earlier then she had to and stayed several hours later then she needed to as well and had not had vacation in years.

It probably was the first time he had to threaten to fire someone to make them take time off, a fact Susan might have found amusing if she where not so mad because of it. Work was her only distraction, especially around this time of year where family was key thing. That was something she was seriously lacking, thus got depressed when the holidays came around.

Well, in truth she did have family to spend the holidays with, a very large one in fact. Her 'sisters' and their families always tried make any family centered holiday easier on Susan, but it was impossible for them to take away all the pain that this time of year always brought to the dark haired woman.

'Damn it, Tony! If I ever find you, I'll kill you for taking Wilhelmina from me! To kidnap a newborn infant, especially your own daughter is unforgivable!' Susan thought as she looked into a window of a toy store and saw a display of some the merchandise that was on sale.

As Susan wondered if anything she saw might been something her daughter would have wanted for Christmas, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Someone was peeking around the corner of a near by ally and was looking at her. 'What the?' Susan thought as she made no physical sign she noticed the figure.

Quickly thinking up a plan, Susan started walking again. Her plan was to every so often stop at a new shop and pretend to look into a window, when she was actually looking to see if the person was following her. Her plan worked unfortunately, because three more shops in a row Susan noticed the strange person out of the corner of her eye.

Susan noted the person was wearing rather worn looking clothes consisting of a very old gray winter coat that probably did not fulfill its role as well as it used to, a pairs of gray sweatpants that looked a little ragged and were soaked because of the snow. The shoes on the person's feet were defiantly not for winter use that was for sure, since they were a pair of falling apart runner. Susan could not see the person's face because of the black took and collar of the coat hid the facial features too well.

Susan was contemplating on how to deal with this little problem, when her…sixth sense told her what to do. Susan quickly went into a nearby coffee shop so she could put her plan into action.

---

'I wish I could go inside to.' The figure thought as she shivered in her hiding place in the ally. She had not gloves to keep her hands warm and the snow was soaking through clothes after being out all day following her target all. The fact it was just starting to get dark was only making the cold even worse.

'Plus I'm not feeling so good. I hope she goes home soon and I can think of what I'm going to do.' The figure thought as she tried rubbing her hand together, but they were to numb to respond very well. Her legs were starting to enter the same state and feet were just as bad as her hands because her runner were in such bad shape, she had considered just going barefoot. It was not like she could feel anything anyway!

Figure then leaned her body up against the brick ally wall, part of her feeling so light headed she was on the very of falling asleep. The figure quickly shook her head trying to keep herself awake, knowing if she let herself do that then she was most likely not going to wake up again.

While the figure tried to make herself stay awake she did not notice someone had walked up next to her, until a steaming cup of what smelled like hot chocolate was held in front of her face.

"Tell me why your following me and it's yours.' A voice said, and the figure looked slowly over to see the woman she had been following was now standing right next to her. 'How did she know I was following her and how did she get so close with out me noticing her!' The figure screamed in her mind as she tried to back away.

But the mysterious figure slipped on a patch of ice and landed on her back. It was a good thing the only things in her backpack were clothes, because they softened the landing a bit. Unfortunately now the mysterious person was like a turtle that had been flipped onto its back, because she could not get up in her numb and tired condition.

"Are you alright?" the person heard the woman ask and noticed she was bending down to help. Before the person could protest, the woman had already helped her up into a sitting position and was now moving to get the collar of the person out of the was with one hand, while holding the cup of hot chocolate in the other.

---

"No…Stop…" A small, weak and young voice begged as Susan got the annoying collar out of the way and revealed her stalker's face. From the shape of the face and the sound of the voice, along with the rather short height that Susan had noticed, she guessed this was a very young girl. Most likely no older then twelve, which only made the woman wonder even more why this child was following her.

"Here, drink up. You look cold, it should help you warm up a bit. Don't think you're getting out of explaining yourself though, because I'm not letting you go until you do." Susan said in a firm yet gentle voice and held the cup of hot liquid close to the girl's face.

After moment of hesitating, the girl slowly leaned her mouth closer to the cup and with the woman's help, to a sip. A gentle warmth flowed through her body as it went down and eagerly took more when it was offered. It took only five minutes for the strange girl to finish off the cup and a feel a bit stronger, but not by much.

"Now, care to tell why you were following me or do I need to call a friend I have that's on the force?" Susan asked in the same gentle yet firm tone she used earlier. The young girl looked fearfully into Susan's eyes as begging her not do that, as she said in a weak and stuttered tone, "P-P-Please d-don't…I-I'll talk just d-don't c-call any cops."

Susan could tell the stuttering was just as much from the cold as it was from fear, something that worried Susan a great deal. The fact the girl looked a little to pale for it to be her natural skin tone also worried Susan and knew she needed to get this girl some place warm very soon.

"Good, but first can you tell if you can walk and where you live? You can explain yourself once we get you to my car. You don't look or sound well and I don't want leave you in the cold and make you worse." Susan said gently as she moved to help the girl up.

Susan had a gut feeling she was not going like the answer about where the girl lived, if her clothing was any indication but praying she was wrong. No one should be with out a home, but the girl's sad expression was quickly sinking that hope. "I…I don't have a home." The girl said in a quet tone, one that Susan could just barely hear but did.

"We'd better leaving the explanation until we get to my car then because this sounds like a long story." Susan said she helped the girl to her feet and led her towards the car that was parked a couple of blocks down the street. 'When I am I going to learn window shopping is a bad thing to do during winter, especially at this time of year?' Susan thought as helped the child keep her balance on the icy sidewalk.

---

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at Susan's car, which she quickly unlocked and got the girl in the passenger side seat and buckled her in. Once that was done Susan quickly headed over to the driver side and got the engine started to the heater could help warm the girl up.

"Guess I need to start talking now?" the girl asked in a nervous tone. She knew the woman would want answers very soon, the stranger new she had been lucky to have aloud to be silent for this long.

"Yes." Was the woman's only response as she pulled out of her parking spot and started driving down the road. This made the girl even more nervous, but made herself start talking anyway. "You are…You look so much like her. So I wanted to see you." The girl said, but was unable to make eye contact with Susan, who was looking at the girl strangely.

"Who do I look like, sweetie?" Susan asked, quickly growing curious at who she shared an appearance to that would make this young girl follower he around for who knows how long. The curiosity quickly changed to worry as tears started to swell up in the girl's eyes.

"You look like my…mother!" The girl said with a small sob, then looked away and started to tremble a bit for some reason. Susan was a bit shocked by this and pulled over and tried to comfort the girl. But the second she touched the girl's cheek she was alarmed by how warm it felt.

Susan quickly reached and pulled off the took to reveal the girl's short and unruly red hair and reached to touch the girl's forehead. "W-What are you…?" The girl said as she became startled by the sudden action. Susan did not reply as she took note of the girl's terrible fever. She knew she needed to get this girl to her apartment fast!

"How long have you been feeling ill?" Susan asked as she pulled the car back onto the road, going as fast as she could safely go with the icy roads. The girl was a bit taken back by the worried and panicked tone and expression that Susan was giving her.

"For…three days." The girl responded as she tried to shrink into her seat under the woman's gave. She was not used to getting so much attention, especially not the kind that showed concern for her well-being.

'Is this what its like having a mother?' The girl thought as the woman next her kept giving her concerned glances when ever it was safe for her to look away from the road. Conscience was telling her to tell the woman the whole truth but the redhead was scared of what that would bring.

"If you have been sick that long then you should been going to a free clinic or go to the police and let them find you a foster home or orphanage. It had to have been a better choice than living on the streets." Susan semi-lectured the girl, of course Susan did take into account she did not know why the girl preferred living on the streets, but would still prefer if this child have had a nice warm home instead of the cold streets.

"If I did that then…he might find me." The girl responded, sounding very scared as she hugged herself protectively. Susan did not like the sound of this, but her 'sixth sense' was telling her not dig deeper into that topic yet. She hated it when that told her to do something when she wanted to do the opposite, but knew from experience that it was better to obey. Her sixth sense had always been right in the past and ignoring was a bad idea.

---

It took an hour for Susan to reach her apartment because of the snow and traffic, but the woman did not care. It gave the young girl next to her time to calm down and sleep. That was something Susan knew the poor thing needed in her condition.

'I should be able to get her up stairs with out waking her. But where to put her though, the couch, my bed or…Wilhelmina's bed?' Susan thought as she debated on which was more important. This girl's comfort or some silly vow she made about the room she had reserved for her long lost daughter.

'I'm being selfish, this girl has just as much right to a comfortable bed as my own daughter does, and she'll only be around until I can think of what I should do with her.' Susan mentally told herself as she parked in the underground garage of her apartment complex.

As she got out, Susan shut the door as quietly as possible so she did not waking the slumbering girl in the passenger seat, then went over to the other side and scooped up the redhead. Once Susan did her best to close the second as quietly as possible and carried the girl over to the elevator.

It took a few tries to push the button with the girl in her arms, but managed to succeed in the end. Susan repeated the process with the buttons on the inside and sent the elevator up to the top floor.

The next obstacle was going to be a bit trickier, since Susan was going to need to swipe her keycard to open her apartment door. It took a bit of careful shift to her passenger into position where Susan could hold onto the girl with one arms and swipe the card with her free hand. Susan was not sure if she should be relieved or worried she had succeeded in doing all that with waking the girl.

'I really hope she is just a deep sleeper.' Susan thought as she placed her passenger on the couch. Susan then went to work on taking off the girl backpack, coat and shoes and carefully placed then next to the couch. Susan then went picked out an old gray nightshirt that had shrunk a bit too much in the wash, but other then that was still perfectly useable.

Before starting the process of changing the girl out of her ratty looking sweatshirt and pants, Susan took off her trench coat, revealing a light blue shirt and a pair of brown pants. 'Lets see…I should start with the top. That will take the most effort to get off because I'll have to move her around more,' Susan deduced before she went about removing the garment.

Susan slowly but surly inches the baggy thing off the girl's body, only to notice she felt something…sticky on the girl's back. "What could possibly be on her back that would be…oh God no!" Susan gasped as she turned the redhead over to see her back was covered in whiplashes.

This discovery made Susan go back to work at removing the sweatshirt, but this time with the intention see how much damage had really been done to the poor thing. Susan had found several more cuts along the girl's back and arms, and could tell they probably spread down to her lower body as well.

Susan quickly removed the girl's pants and confirmed this. The damage seemed to have been kept to the back of the girl's body, with the exception of her arms. All these cuts looked several days old, but there were also scars as well, indicating the whippings were regulars occurrences.

"Who could have…wait she said she did not want 'him' to find her. Could she have been referring to her…Father?" Susan whispered as she realized why the poor girl now lived on the streets. Better to live in the cold then live with pain afterall.

Susan then went and grabbed a medical kit she kept for emergencies. Susan actually had something much better than the kit, but thought it best to keep that a secret or several people might be coming to talk to her. Susan was not in the mood for a lecture, especially from them!

'They ask the others and I to give and give, but when we need something what do they do? Tell us, mainly me, it's not aloud. One of these days I'm going to…aaarrr!' Susan growled in her mind as she treated the newfound injuries.

After applying some medical cream to fight infection and bandaging up the wounds, Susan slipped the nightshirt onto the sleeping girl and got her under a blanket. Susan would have preferred to move the girl to a bed, but she had already moved the poor girl enough as it is. Some of the cuts had been responded from all of the moving around Susan had been doing earlier, and did not wish to make things worse than she already did.

Just as Susan was finished tucking the redhead in and putting a pillow under her head, something happened. To anyone else it would have been strange and a bit frightening, but for Susan classified as normal. A necklace with a pink crystal in a metallic frame appeared around Susan neck and fired a pink beam of light at the sleeping girl.

The formed a small shield over the girl, much to Susan's confusion. 'Why is the Heart putting up a shield? It would have warned me if danger was near.' The dark haired woman thought, but quickly figured out it had something to do with an all too familiar purple portal opening up in her living room.

'Oh joy! An unwanted visit from someone on the Council!' Susan thought bitterly as she waited to see who came through. To her surprise and annoyance it was the Oracle who stepped through. "Oh what an honour, the mighty Oracle comes personally to command one of the members of his personal S.W.A.T. team. What is it this time? Evil dust bunnies trying to take over a broom closest!" Susan said in a sarcastic tone. Ever since he said it would not be right for Susan to use her powers to locate her daughter, she had been less then happy with Candracar and made it quite obvious for the last twelve years.

"Actually I did not wish to submit Tibor or Halinor to any more bolts of lighting, and we both know what would happen if Luba and you were in the same room alone together. I thought it best for all those concerned that I come personally." The Oracle said calmly as he paid no mind to Susan hostile attitude. He knew she would never forgive him for interfering with all of Susan's magical attempts to locate her daughter, something he found not fair but his position as Oracle demanded he must.

'If she only knew how close to her daughter she is, hopefully the child will start revealing some evidence soon.' The Oracle thought, as he outwardly appeared unshaken by Susan's angry gaze. Inwardly, he was a bit unnerved by it. Most would be since the glare was fueled by a mother's wrath, the one force that would frighten even the most hardened warrior.

"Glad you seem to care for the well being of SOME people. Now tell me what you want so I can show insubordination and ignore it!" Susan said with venom dripping fro her every word. Of course if it was serious matter, Susan would quickly jump into action. She knew the Guardians were protectors of the innocent and she would not turn her back on people who needed help, she just refused to show respect to people who refused to help an innocent because it was too small an issue for Candracar to waste mystical energy on.

"First if you don't mind me asking…" Oracle started to say, "I do," From Susan. But the Oracle ignored this and continued, "What do you plan on doing with the child? I can assure you she won't stay in a foster home, she fears her father will find her if her name and location are placed on paper, which will if she is placed in the adoption system."

Susan's expression softened as she turned to glance at the redhead on her couch. 'What am I going to do with her? If the Oracle is right, then she won't stay where she would be safe, not when she is afraid that monster would try and find her.' Susan did take into account she could ask one of the others to adopt the poor thing or at least fold her to Meridian. Even with Phobos still on the loose, Elyon's forces had him and his minions on the run so it was a relatively safe. Plus the girl's father would never find her there, not unless he was a magical being that could create portals.

"I sense you have yet to consider this question. She is actually why I came to see you; she has a great destiny before her and will need guidance. I was hoping you could…" The Oracle started to say, but for the second time was interrupted by Susan.

"No! Don't you dare suggest that! Not after what you have been doing to me all these years!" an out raged Susan yelled at the Oracle. She could not believe he would dare suggest such a thing. Normally Susan would jump at the chance to at least help someone in position like the one this child was in. But with the Oracle being the one to suggest it, Susan's anger towards the ruler of Candracar blinded her.

The Oracle shook his head sadly as he said, "I know your upset about your daughter, you've have every right to be and I certainly won't make take the child in. But please at least consider it. It is the Christmas season after all and the one thing I can tell about her is she has never had one before."

These words struck a cord in Susan heart, making feel more then but guilty at her rather cold hearted response a moment ago. "But that's not...why am I suddenly looking like the bad guy? Did you really have to go and make me feel guilty?!" Susan stated with both regret and anger. She knew she should be doing every thing in power to help this so far nameless girl, because for all Susan knew, Tony could be treating Wilhelmina in the same way this one had been treated.

"I had no intention of making you feel guilty, honourable Guardian. Though I admit it was a rather dirty blow to use your world's holiday against you like that, but I felt I needed to point that just so you would at least consider taking an...Active role in helping her find a good home. You don't need to actually take her in yourself, but if you did then perhaps you could help each other." The Oracle said in his usual objective manner.

His words about the redheaded girl being able to help her peeked Susan's interest considerably and she tried to find out more. "I can understand how I might be help her in someway, but how can she help me exactly?" Susan asked, her cynical side of her thought he might go on about how this girl might help fill the void of her daughter's absence but that was not to be the case.

"Just as the simple act of becoming very close to the current Queen of Meridian helped you expose Phobos and force him go into hiding, so shall helping this girl assist you in a similar manner." The Oracle in a sagely tone, then mystically made a sheet of paper appear in his hand and then placed it on the coffee table.

Susan picked up the sheet of paper and noticed at hand several items listed on it. It mainly consisted of clothing and shoe sizes and frog related objects for some reason. As Susan looked up to ask what the list meant, the Oracle was already heading back towards his portal while saying, "Just a simple list of things that should help, should you at least consider taking care of her until more permanent arrangements can be made."

With that the Oracle vanished into his portal, which closed behind him and left behind a still bit confused Susan. After few minutes Susan came to the conclusion that this was a...Christmas list of things Susan's 'guest' may want or need. 'I guess it could not hurt to look this child after a little while. How could I ever consider myself worthy of being a mother or even a human being, if I turn my back on this girl who obviously needs someone to help her.' Susan thought as she looked down at the list again.

After few minutes of thinking it over, Susan grabbed the cordless phone and dialed a number. "Hi Joan, I'm know it's a bit late but I am a bit behind on my shopping and could use some help if you and the others have the time to spare. Also I have something important to tell you. Its semi Guardian related so let's get everyone on conference call." Susan said into the receiver as she started to organize the 'troops.'

---

The next morning, the redheaded girl woke and found herself in an expansive and beautifully decorated apartment. She was lying on soft black leather couch and saw two love seats on either end of said couch. Right in front of the couch was a glass coffee table and across the room was large flat screen TV mounted on the wall, hanging above a gas fireplace.

'Where am I?' the young redhead thought as she tried to sit up, but was feeling to weak to do it. What ever she got while being out in the cold for the last few days was now quickly sapping her strength and making her feel very tired. The fact that the couch was so soft and comfortable and blanket she was covered in was so warm was not helping to motivate the girl to try and get up. Not after being out in the snow for three days following the woman was her Mother. She was only told that the older woman the look alike story because she was too afraid to tell the truth.

"This is a fine mess you have gotten yourself into, Will. You let yourself got caught and are probably in her apartment right now." The young girl now known as Will whispered as she looked up at the ceiling. After second though, she realized something was different and finally noticed she was in the slightly baggy nightshirt Susan had changed her into.

With a fearful expression on her face, Will slowly reached to touch her back and felt the bandages through the cloth. 'She saw them?' Will thought as she started to tremble a bit at the revelation. Will knew when found out about things like this it led to questions, ones Will feared answering. That always led to people to seek her father out, who then bought them off and got Will even worse beatings for making him use too much money on her.

'I-I have to leave before she starts asking about the injuries. Why did she treat them anyway and why was she being so nice when she found out I was following her? Dad said she never cared about anyone but herself, so why help a perfect stranger?' Will thought as she struggled to stand up and look for her clothes.

As Will stood up though, she felt so very light headed and had to use the couch for balance or she might fall over. 'Am I really this sick? Maybe I should just layback...no if I do that, mom might figure out who I am. Once that happens she'll just throw mw out on the street. At least if I leave on my own it will hurt a lot less.' Will thought as she tried to get herself going again so she could find her backpack and clothes.

But just as she started to make her way around the couch and was heading for the two rooms she saw in the small hallway of the apartment, Will heard the door start to open and turned to see who was coming in.

---

Susan had gotten up early to take her guest's clothes down to the laundry room that was in the apartment basement. They were all filthy and somewhere even so badly worn Susan wondered why the girl was carrying them, until she reminded herself about the clearly poor treatment the redhead must have received in her home.

'I hope her mother at least tried to stop it. I can't see why the girl would have been stalking me if I looked like a person who condoned that kind of treatment. If I ever meet this girl's father though, he better hope the Oracle himself steps in because he is only who with the power to stop me from murdering the man! I know the others won't interfere, heck I would not be surprised if they helped after hearing their reactions last night.' Susan thought as slipped her cardkey into the slot and opened the door.

When Susan walked through, she was shocked to see the redhead was up and not looking she was having an easy time walking. Susan noticed the girl seemed be staring at the backpack that was in one of Susan's hands and was looking a little afraid. Susan gave the girl a reassuring smile as she headed over to the child's side while saying, "Don't worry; I just took them down to put them in the wash. Now let's get you back over to the couch, you still look like you have bit of a fever."

Susan the gently guided the redhead back to the couch, smiling at the blush that was quickly forming on the girl's face. After Susan had her guest tucked back in she asked, "I did not get a chance to ask you this last night, could you tell me your name? I'm sure both my friends and I would prefer to call you by name then things like 'girl', 'Red', or 'hey you'."

Susan noticed the girl looked a little hesitant to answer, but after few seconds she responded in a whisper, "It's...Wilma" This brought a smile Susan's face, it reminded it her bit of her daughter's name. "That's a pretty name it reminds me of..." Susan said, but her voice trailed off as she though of her long lost child.

---

Will grew curious when she noticed the sad smile quickly growing on her mother face after what she just said. Will wondered what the fake name she used made the woman think of. 'Could it be...me?' Will thought as stared the distance expression on her mother's face.

A part of Will was telling her not to be foolish and give herself false hope, while another was screaming at Will to tell this woman her real name, that she was this woman's daughter. This other part of Will was the one that wanted to believe everything her father said was a lie and this woman would love and protect her, but to many years of fear and pain prevented Will from act on this other half's beliefs.

"Um…what is going to happen to me now? I know you've seen…" Will asked in trembling tone. She was clearly scared of what could happen if her mother pressed her for information about the whip marks. If the older woman found out about Tony Vandom, Will knew her secret would be discovered and then the woman would probably throw her back onto the street.

Will's question brought Susan back to her senses and gave Will a concerned look. "Don't worry your safe here. Who ever did that to you won't stand a chance against me because I probably have dealt with far worse." Susan said in encouraging tone. She had a feeling this from the way this girl was trembling that she was not ready to talk about who ever beat her like that, so Susan knew better to ask right now.

Susan then reached over and grabbed the remote from the coffee table and gently placed it on Will's chest. "When you're ready, we'll talk about it. For now just focus on getting better, being sick at Christmas as not the best way to spend the holidays. While I'm out feel free to watch what ever you like and if you need anything, Yan Lin will be here until I get back." Susan said to Will and went to pick up her purse and trench coat she had left on one of the loveseats.

"Where...Where are you going? And who is Yan Lin?" Will asked sounding bit nervous. Susan assumed it was because her young guest was a bit scared about being around someone she did not know.

"Just going out to do some last minute Christmas shopping, I have rather large segregate family to shop for so I still have few people left. As for who Yan Lin is, she has been like a second mother to my friends and me and a second grandmother to their children. I hope my little girl gets to meet her one day." Susan answered, the last part was meant to be a silent omission but accidentally said it aloud.

"Y-Your...little girl?" Will asked in shocked tone. She had not been expecting to hear here mother sound so sad when referring to her. 'Or I think it's me. I don't remember the record Serena found saying mom having any other children so I guess it's me she just spoke about' Will thought as she waited for her mother's response.

Susan silently cursed herself for saying that our loud, she did not want to trouble the girl who she thought was named Wilma with her own problems. "It's a hard subject to talk about Wilma. It's my problem not yours so please don't worry yourself about it." Susan said in a sad tone, hoping that the redhead did not ask too much about the subject.

A second later it would seem Susan was saved by the bell or in this guess a buzzer. She quickly went over to an intercom on a near by wall and said, "I'll buzz you up Yan Lin, tell the others I'll be right down." With out waiting for a response Susan pushed another button and a buzzing sound was heard.

Susan finished putting on her coat and waited for Yan Lin to arrive so she could let the old woman in. "Don't worry she is very nice. Plus if I know her as well I think I do, she has a batch or two of her special chicken soup heading right your way Wilma." Susan said with a wink of her eye, hoping to calm the girl a bit more before leaving.

Susan could tell Will was not quite convinced, but would bet the old woman would have the redhead so comfortable with her by the time Susan got back, Yan Lin would probably have the girl's whole life story. 'Then we can have Tom take over from there…assuming the story Yan Lin tell me does not make want to deal with the problem personally.' Susan thought as she heard a knock at the door.

Susan opened it to reveal an old Asian woman dressed in a green robe and her surprisingly still black hair done up in a Chinese bun. Susan notes the small pot in the old woman's hands and knew she had been bang on in her guess. "I hope that stuff can still work its wonders, Yan Lin." Susan said with a warm smile to the woman who chuckled in response.

"Don't you worry, this stuff got Hay Lin and Irma back on their feet two weeks ago, I'm sure it will do the same for this girl." Yan Lin said as Susan stood aside and let woman in. Yan Lin immediately went over to the stove and put the pot on it so she could warm the soup up.

"Since she just woke she has not eaten yet so it's a good thing you brought the soup." Susan commented as she watched Yan Lin grab a frying-pan, some bread and some cheese slices, knowing the older woman was going make some grilled cheese sandwiches to go along with the soup.

"Speaking of eating, how much do think she has done of that? All Joan told was that you said she was badly beaten but mentioned nothing about her weight. I'm prying that means she has been eat at least a little bit." Yan Lin asked in a quite voice as she heated the pan up and had a worried expression on her face.

Susan gave the woman a sad smile as she answered, "Let me put it this way. Unless she gets better in time Christmas Dinner, the Silver Dragon better stalk up on everything because I'm not leaving until I know she is stuffed."

This made Yan Lin look just as sad as Susan and nodded her head in response. "I'll make sure she puts every last bit of the soup down then. Now you better getting. Joan and the others maybe your 'sisters' and love you very much, but they their patience only lasts so long." Yan Lin said, the first part being serious, but her voice grew humors as she reached the subject of the other four women, who were waiting for the dark haired woman outside.

Susan smiled and nodded her head before heading out the door. 'Hopefully I'll be able to wrap most if not all the shopping today. I don't know why but I want be near Wilma for some reason. Is it because of what the Oracle said?' Susan wondered as she headed for the elevator.

The words the Oracle used were not very clear though and had Susan and the other Guardians discussing it as much as they talked about Wilma. They knew that when Susan become close to Elyon back when she was three, the trust Susan and Elyon built between them made it hard for Phobos to pull the wool over Elyon's eyes when he tried to convince her that the Guardians were evil. This in the end made Elyon question her brother's motives enough to do some investigating on her own. In the end she found out about Phobos' plans, which led her to seek the Guardians out and they managed to overthrow Phobos and get the girl on the thrown.

How helping the redhead that was currently occupying Susan's couch was going to help Susan in similar way was about as clear as mud, but all five agreed that this girl needed help and they needed to provide it. The fact that Candracar was involved (though only in a small way) made it even more important they be there for this girl.

Only time would tell how this girl was going to help Susan, but when they did it would be one of the biggest shocks of their lives.

---

Meanwhile, Yan Lin was coming out with a tray of soup, grilled cheese and a glass of orange juice for said redhead, who was seemed to be a bit nervous. Yan Lin gave Will a reassuring look as she set the try down on the coffee table. "Don't worry little one, I don't bite. Even if I wanted to, these old teeth of mine would not chew mash potatoes." Yan Lin joked which got a small smile from Will. Yan Lin had a strange ability with children, most likely gained it from being around the Guardians and then their children. Being a biological grandmother helped to.

After Yan Lin sat down in one of the seats, Will slowly moved towards the food and started eating. It was strange, Will suddenly felt a bit better ands very hungry after some of the soup went down. It was like the soup cured a bit of her fever and her appetite was starting to come back.

'Is this soup magic or something?' Will wondered absent-minded as she devoured her meal. If Will only knew how close to the truth she was. There was a reason why Yan Lin's Miracle Chicken Soup did its wonders on the sick. The clever old woman used some old Guardian know how into the broth with few special herds and a spark of life force to activate the magic. Of course Yan Lin kept this fact secret, even from Joan who was her successor. Yan Lin knew such methods should only besides sparingly…and she worked her butt off to create the recipe and did not feeling like sharing it.

'Can't always give them all the answers after all. They want more after I'm gone, they can experiment like I did. It should take only a few years to figure it out.' Yan Lin silently mused as she started knitting to pass the time while she waited for Susan to get back.

---

Two hours later at the mall, Susan and her friends where at the food court having a small lunch before they continued their shopping trip. One of the four other women was of course Joan Lin, Yan Lin's daughter in law and the current Air Guardian. Most people feared they're inlaws but since the two women shared the Guardians bond, they were very close, much to Chen's confusion back when he was a boy.

Another was Elizabeth Hale who was the current Earth Guardian. She and Susan butted heads back when they first met and still did to this day, despite being good friends. This was because Elizabeth was firmly against getting involved with Meridian's war and believed they should stick to sealing portals back when the group first formed.

Susan on the other hand believed the best defense was a good offense, so the two started despising one another at first. Eventually this 'dislike' just became habit and in the end became close friends that would take a hit for the other at any time.

The third woman was the Fire Guardian Theresa Cook, who at first believed in the same strategy as Elizabeth but her attitude quickly changed when Phobos decided to send a few Lurdens through a portal the had opened up in her families basement.

Cleaning up the mess before her parents got home got hot-tempered girl's skin and swore to payback the prince for causing her such grief. Susan wondered if that was why Theresa liked to make sure her attacks did collateral damage in battle, especially when fighting in Phobos' palace.

The last one was Anna the Water Guardian. Anna was the one who was the most scared when she found out about the Guardian thing. It took Joan and Theresa getting hurt when they pushed her out of the way of Cedric's tail foe her snapped out of it and go on the attack.

Anna attacked with so much force with her water blasts, they actual managed to tare some of Cedric's flesh! That was something no one had managed to do before, even when Susan, Theresa and Elizabeth triple teamed him.

Of course Anna's achievement was a one-time thing, since the water element was never normally that offensive in nature but it certainly made Cedric scared of Anna ever since that day.

"Thanks again for helping me with this you guys, between getting gifts for the last few people on my list and now our new addition, I was not sure if I would finish on time." Susan said in a grateful tone, as she glanced down at the packages that surrounded the table that they were sitting at.

"From what you told us, how could we not? Besides we all wanted to chip in a few gifts as well since I have a feeling this girl never had much of a Christmas before." Theresa replied fore the group. They all knew she was thinking back to all her law experience to come to this conclusion and knew she was probably right.

"But there is a way you can thanks us if you really want." Elizabeth added which drew the attention of everyone at the table. Susan gave the blond haired woman a questionable look as she hesitantly asked, "How?"

"Simple, this Christmas Eve, be sure to be up at the cabin. You have bailed on us for the last two years; it's about time you were there with us again so we can really celebrate together again." The Earth Guardian said with a smirk on her face. She knew she had Susan corned since now the other three women knew of Elizabeth's plan.

Susan gulped as she saw her friends set their sight on her and knew it was either go down fighting or just give up now a save the energy for the slopes, since said cabin was right next to a ski lodge. "Okay! Okay! I'll be there! I hate it when you pull something like this Liz!" Susan said in exasperation, but tried to claim partial retribution by using the forbidden name.

"Don't call me that!" Elizabeth hissed out since she hated it when people called her Liz and everyone at the table knew it. It was like Anna's daughter Irma, called Elizabeth's daughter Cornelia, Corny.

"It's called eye for an eye, Mud Queen. I thought you would have learned that lesson long ago." Susan mocked her friend, a confident smirk growing on her face. The others knew this was the sign she was getting ready for a battle of who could out name call the other. It often made the other three women debate on how mature the pair was at times.

"You listen here you female version of Zeus! One of these days I'm going to…" Elizabeth started to say as she countered Susan's wisecrack, while the other three Guardians tried to brake up the insult contest before the started to resort to magic to settle the dispute. That would be a bad thing since they were in a mall that was full of people.

---

Later that evening, Yan Lin was still knitting away, while a slumbering Will lade on the couch. The TV was on a station that was playing holiday movies and specials, but Will did not get a chance to watch many since Yan Lin's special soup seemed to make her drowsy. It was a side effect of the magic herbs Yan Lin added to the soup, so not only did the soup help weaken illness, it also helped made the body rest which was the best medicine for most illnesses.

Suddenly Yan Lin heard several voices and a door opening, easily guess the five women were finally done with the last minute Christmas shopping. "I'll go see if I can distract her, you guys go hide the gifts in my room." Yan Lin heard Susan's voice say. Being a former Air Guardian had it perks when it came to hearing things a long distance away.

Yan Lin put her knitting down and headed towards the hall. Once there she said the still organizing group, "She is fast asleep Susan, so no need to distract her." This had everyone jump a bit, since the old woman knack for sneaking up on them.

"Yan Lin! One of these days one of us is going to think you're an enemy and blast you!" Susan hissed at the former Air Guardian while the other for women nodded in agreement. Yan just waved off this threat with chuck and responded, "Young people these days are all talk."

With that the old woman walked back the living room, leaving the five Guardians at the door. All five silently contemplating aiming an attack the old woman's rear end, but knew they should not attack the elderly woman, that would be morally wrong…and Anna and Elizabeth still needed her for free babysitting.

The five women then went about hiding the gifts away, than went into the front room to unofficially meet the new addition to the 'family'. While there were no actually long term plan for this girl's as of yet, they knew someone needed to take this girl in. With the council taking an interest in her and the fact Wilma deserved a good home, they knew one of them needed to take this girl in.

It was hard to decide who was the best one to take Wilma though. Susan was top on the list due to having the spare room and was fairly well off, so she could easily support the girl. The only down side was the fact that Susan was constantly trying to look for her real daughter, and if found it might lead to an uncomfortable adjustment for all three of them.

The other four Guardians where all tied for who would be the next best option. Elizabeth and her family easily had the money to support Wilma, but since she had two girls already they did not know how easy it would be for Wilma to adjust to a large family. This also eliminated Anna and Theresa for the same reason.

Joan was actually looking like she might the second best choice when compared to Susan, since her family's restaurant was doing well, there were three adults to be there for Wilma and they only had Hay Lin, so in theory Wilma would not be too over whelmed while she got used to the Lin house hold.

Of course they thought it best to put off any final decision until they talked it over with the child in question, who the five women were looking down at upon as they surrounded the couch.

"She looks so peaceful, it's hard imagine she is this shy and scared girl you told us about Susan," Anna commented as she looked at Wilma's sleeping form. The other Guardians (even Susan) had to agree with this. Susan recalled how she saw the found the girl that morning, she seemed so tense even in her sleep, but now she seemed much more relaxed.

"She seems to react to the soup the same way you do Susan. She grows very sleep after having a bowl and will easily sleep for three to four hours after each severing. Combine that with the fact she shares a surprising resemblance to what you looked like at that age, it's almost like she is your clone. The only difference is her slightly lighter skin tone and red hair color." Yan Lin commented as she packed up her knitting supplies.

This commented shocked everyone, as they suddenly noticed the very thing Yan Lin pointed out. "Could it be…no it would to easy if it were true." Susan whispered as the possibility that this could her daughter came into her mind.

"Well you have to admit Susan…stranger things have happened to us." Theresa pointed out. After all they turned into giants fairies that fought the forces of evil, having a child you have been searching for just appear before on the street seemed rather believe able after what they had all been through.

"Let's not jump to conclusions yet, we still need to find out more about this girl's past before we can even assume she is Wilhelmina." Elizabeth warned the group, mainly so to shield Susan from any pain of this theory being proven wrong.

"But at the moment there is a fair bit if evidence pointing in that direction. Her name is Wilma, which is very similar to Wilhelmina. She stalking Susan for looking like her mother and even looks like Susan when she was at that age. Plus Tony had the same shade of red hair. While there is still a chance it all just coincidence, it's still to much to ignore." Joan pointed out.

After a moment of silence that group used to think all this over Anna spoke up, "Why don't we wake her up and I could just do a 'Point to your mother, point your mother, point to your mother' mind suggestion on her and we would have our answer?" This suggestion seemed to attract the other four Guardians' interest, but Yan Lin stepped in.

"And assuming it works and she does react in the way Susan is hoping, what then? What is the girl used a false name because she is not ready to admit the truth for some reason? It would be better to try giving the girl time to grow comfortable with us and then get her tell her story of her own free will." Yan Lin scolded the five women. She understood their reasons, but to violate this girl's rights to have her secrets was wrong even if it was for her benefit.

Yan Lin was glad to see the ashamed and remorseful the group's faces, signifying they understood it was a bad idea for them to use their plan. "Now that we have that settled, are coming up with us Christmas Eve, Susan? It has been so long and Wilma might enjoy being around the other girls. Besides I don't wish to subject the child to what you call cooking!" Yan Lin asked. She was trying to change the subject now that they had learned their lesson.

"Hey I have been improving thank you! Besides these four have already conned me into coming so even if my cooking is as bad you seem to believe, I just get to sit back and watch you do all the work this year!" Susan stated as quietly as she could so to not wake Wilma.

All those present (and awake) just gave Susan a look that said, 'Keep telling yourself that and you might believe it one day.' Susan just crossed her arms over her chest and let a 'Humph' sound, which made everyone just giggled at the sight.

"Well anyway we should get going Joan; we have a restaurant to look after. Hopefully my son has not burnt it down whole we were gone." Yan Lin said with a smirk, which got her daughter rolling her eyes but still smiled at the joke. "Ya we should, but one quick thing first." Joan said and turned to Susan.

"You mind if I take all the gifts you got home with me? If this is to be Wilma's first Christmas then lets make the presents a big surprise. She won't ever expect a mountain of gifts to be waiting for her on Christmas morning." Joan suggested, which seemed liked a good idea to Susan but not to the other three Guardians.

"Susan, say no. It means we get drafted to taking them all back down!" Anna said in protest, but the dark haired woman ignored this in favor of surprising the redhead. "Go ahead and take them, just let me grab two of the bags first. It has a few things I wanted give her right away. Once you guys cornered me into going, I knew I needed to get her a good change of clothes and some pajamas." Susan responded, much to the displeasure of the soon to be labor force.

---

A few hours later, Will slowly woke up again. She was feeling a little groggy because of the affecter effects of soup, so she did not realize Susan was in room until she spoke up. "Finally awake sleepy head? How are you feeling?" Will jumped a bit at the sudden noise, but when she saw Susan she calmed down very quickly.

"H-H-Hi...I'm feeling a lot better. What ever Yan Lin puts in that soup really helped...or is chicken soup supposed to do that normally?" Will managed to stutter out, much to Susan's amusement as she watched the redhead blush a little; thought Susan did feel a bit concerned about the girl's question about chicken soup.

'Was this the first time she had chicken soup? I have to try and find out who has been raising her, I hope it's not this girls father who has been doing this to her.' Susan thought as she tried to plan a way to convince this girl, who could possibly be Wilhelmina, to talk about her past.

"To my knowledge, no other chicken soup has been able to help people get well like Yan Lin's has been able to do. Though Irma, a daughter of a friends of mine, hates eating it since it means she does not get to miss school because of it working so well." Susan joked, which caused Will to giggle in response.

After 'Wilma' stopped giggling Susan asked her question, knowing she needed to catch this girl off guard if she was to find out the truth. "Wilma there is something I need you to tell me. Who hurt you? Was it your father?"

As expected Susan saw the girl instantly looked very afraid and help the blanket up to face, as if hoping it would hide her some how. "I...I can't tell you," was all Will said in response, she did not want her mother to find out anything or her secret might get out. Will was not ready for that yet.

"Why not sweetie? I promise I won't let anyone hurt you. Who ever did that to you must pay, it wrong to hurt a child!" Susan said in hopes of encouraging the girl to open up. It did not seem to work though since the redhead was shaking her head violently back and fourth.

"N-N-No I-I can't...if you try to find him, he'll just buy you off and I'll go back to suffering again! Please don't make me tell you!" Will begged. This was the truth sadly enough, anyone who had tried in the past to help her, was bought off by Tony and left Will to be punished by her father for making him use up so much money.

In this case thought Will was more afraid that her mother would just throw her out on the street once she found out she was related to Will. The woman never wanted her in the past, why would she want her now? True Will knew her father lied a lot and what she saw of her mother so far contradicted her father's stories so far, but she was not going to take a chance that was father had been telling her the truth for once.

"Alright...I won't ask about that anymore until your ready, but only on one condition." Susan replied in a sad, but determined tone. This caused Will to look at her mother with eyes asking what the condition was. "Tell me if you mother was a part of the beating or did she try to protect you. If you tell me that I won't as ask more questions...for now."

Will was a bit reluctant to answer her mother's request, knew if it let escape her mother's questioning she needed to do it. "N-Neither, she left me and dad because I was a worthless piece of trash. Neither of them wanted me, but dad got stuck with me and..." Will explained, her fear masking her give away a bit more information then she wanted to, but finally made herself stop talking before she gave to much away.

Susan was shocked by this news. This poor girl was taught believe she was worthless trash and that no one cared for her? Susan vowed to castrate the man for what he had done to Wilma. 'And if I find out she is actually Wilhelmina, I'll find Tony and feed him to a bunch of starved Lurdens one piece at a time!' Susan roared in her mind before heading over to Will's side and tried to comfort her.

"Your not worthless Wilma and if I ever find the man who told you that and I'll make him pay. Trust me, there is not enough money in this world for buy my friends and me off. So when you're ready please tell me who is and where I can have the police pick him up…unless I feel like beat him to pulp first." Susan said with so much conviction in her voice, Will want so desperately to tell her everything but her fears still held her back.

Will tried to think of a way to respond to her mother's comment, but before she could find the words she saw her mother reach for something. Will then heard what sounded like the rustling of a plastic bag, then watcher her mother's hand slowly come back into view holding a pair of blue pajamas with little smiling frogs covering them.

"While I was out, I got these for you and a change of clothes for Christmas Eve in two days. My 'family' convinced me to go to a little get together they have every year, so I grabbed those for you." Susan explained, giving the girl a gentle smile.

Susan watched the redhead slowly reach for them and handled them as if the where the most precious things in the world. "T-Thanks you. How did you know what my size was?" Will asked, grateful for the small gift. She was surprised they were frog covered in frogs, which her favorite animal. She could never figure out what, but she had a fetish for the little green creature.

"You seemed a little close to Irma in height and size…all be it a bit thinner then her, so I asked her mother what size she was and made a guess. If they happen to be too big we can get a better fitting pair tomorrow. Same for the clothes, but we will check and see if those fit tomorrow." Susan answered hoping her story sounded convincing enough. Susan knew she could not say a Charlie Brown look like gave her a piece of paper with her size, and what her favorite thing to collect was.

Susan then led Will to the bathroom, where Susan helped give the heavily blushing girl a bath, before helping the young girl get changed into her new sleep wear. When they where done, Susan noted the small transformation that had occurred. With the dirt washed away, Susan noted almost identical skin tone they shared and the girl's hair was a brighter shade of red.

'If she isn't Wilhelmina, then she has to be a very good look alike, in a way a part of me is hoping she's not my daughter so that there is still a chance that Tony raised her well.' Susan thought sadly, as she helped Will pull the pajama top over her head. After they where done in the bathroom, instead of leading Will back to the front room, she took Will over to a door in the hall.

"I know you have been sleeping all day, but lets get you to bed just to be sure we get rid of the last of that cold or flue that you have been having. I'll bring in some more of Yan Lin's soup to help you sleep." Susan said as she swung the door open, revealing a simple room with a bed, a dresser and a desk with a computer on it.

"T-T-Thank M…I forgot I never asked you your name," Will said, just barely stopping herself from saying mom. The little voice in side her was getting stronger by the minute. The one that said Will should tell the woman the truth. It asking Will what else did the woman have to do to prove she was not the woman Will's father had told her about for all these years.

"It's Susan Vandom, but you can just call me Susan. Now you get under the covers while I got get you some of that soup." Susan responded and headed for the kitchen. Will climbed under the covers like she was asked, while thinking over what she should do.

'If I can't tell her by the end of Christmas Day, I'll leave and never come back. Getting to spend this much time with mom has been the best thing to ever happen to me, even if she does not know who I am.' Will thought, as she got comfortable in the soft bed, wishing this were actually her room and not some guest room. Of course Will would have been shocked find out the truth about this room, but she would soon enough.

---

The next day was uneventful, other then Will trying on her new outfit. It was a red sweater, a pair of black pants and some black winter boots. There was even a warm dark blue winter coat, snow pants, black took and red gloves. Of course Will felt a little embarrassed found new under wear and sock (mainly the underwear)

The rest of that day was spent in silence, but Susan could tell the redhead was at least trying to say something, but lost her nerve before she could say it. Susan assumed her young guest was trying to build up the courage to tell her something important, but knew it best to let the girl know Susan knew something was up.

'It seems hard enough for her as it is. If I ask it might make things worse, I hope she'll find the strength soon. I really want to help her, if she'll let me.' Susan thought as she secretly kept and eyes on 'Wilma' the whole day.

---

On Christmas Eve day, Will lost even more of her nerve, due to her stomach doing back flips at the thought of meeting all her mom's friends and their families. The fact that they all sounded so close, also made Will nervous. 'What if even mom does except me, will her extended? What if they hate me and it destroys her friendship wit them?' Will thought as the made the long drive up the mountain to the cabin.

The cabin was actually owned by Hale's, but everyone chipped in what they could when it was bought. It was a place where the group loved to get together during both winter and summer holidays and spend time with one another.

"Are you okay Wilma? You're looking a little pale." Susan asked in a concerned tone. She actually had a good idea of what was the redhead's problem, thought it best to be sure before offering advice.

"I'm…I'm okay, probably just a little bit of the flue I had still hanging around." Will replied quietly, confirming Susan's theory. "It will be fine, I bet they will just love you. Just watch out for Irma and possibly Hay Lin. Irma can turn every thing you say into a joke and Hay Lin is bit…hyper. Oh! And as tempting as it might be, don't punch Cornelia if she goes into fashion lecture mode. Elizabeth gets upset when someone does that" Susan assured her girl sitting next to her in the car, mixing a little humor in at the end to help lighten the mood.

Susan smiled when she heard the small giggle as they continued the long drive up the snowy mountain road. As long as the weather held, they would be at the cabin soon; it was just tricky dealing with all the ice and snow.

"So…exactly how many people are going to be there? I know it's your four friends and their families, are they very big ones?" Will asked, hoping that by some miracle this was smaller get together then Will was imagining.

"Well let's see…there is of course, you and me. Then there is Theresa, her husband Lionel and their two children Peter and Taranee. And there is Anna and her husband Tom, along with their two kids Irma and Chris. There is also Elizabeth and Harold and their two daughters, Cornelia and Lillian. And last but not least there is Joan, her husband Chen, their daughter Hay Lin and I'm pretty sure you met Yan Lin. There might be the Browns, their daughter and an old friend of mine and his son." Susan listed off the names of people who would be there, silently amused as she watched an even more pale 'Wilma' use her finger to calculate the number of people she was going to meet.

'Okay subtract mom and me and there will be…21 people there. I wonder if I can just build an igloo and hide in it until it's time to go back to town.' Will thought as she tried to figure out how to handle being around so many people.

---

Two hours later, they finally made it to the cabin, just ten minutes away from the skiing lodge. When Susan noticed 'Wilma' staring at the resort nervously, Susan spoke up to help put the redhead at ease.

"I can't ski very well my self. I normally skate for a while, build a few snowmen, burry Irma with a barrage snow balls when she start chucking them around herself and then sneak off to the ski lodge to have some hot chocolate while the others spend some more in the snow. Of course we won't be out on slops until tomorrow, so you have time tell your flue to come back for 24 hours." Susan commented as she started loading both 'Wilma' and herself up with presents from the trunk of the car.

Will just let out a nervous laugh, still a bit scared of being near the slops but made a silent promise to stick to her mother like glue tomorrow. 'Who knows I might finally be able to tell her tomorrow because of it.' Will thought, as she tried to carry her load up to the door.

As the reached the door, Will wondered how they were going to knock with their arms occupied with packages, until she heard mother start kicking the door while yelling out, "Hey you bunch of con artists! Open the door already!"

While Will was staring at her mother in shock, the door opened up to reveal a tall dark skinned boy. "Hi Aunt Susan, thanks for helping dad mom win the betting pool." The boy commented, making Susan get an annoyed expression on her face while Will just looked confused by the comment.

"What was their guess Peter?" Susan asked in a flat tone while the boy, who Will now knew as Peter, answered, "That you would be the last of the 'Sisters' to show up and you make a scene upon getting here that was supposed to insult all four of them. Even Aunt Elizabeth thought you would just insult her when you got here."

I'm going to have a long talk with your four later Susan said into the telepathic link the five shared. Susan hated it when they pulled a betting pool event on her like this. 'My like if not for their amusement.' Susan mentally grumbled as she marched into the cabin.

Do I get spared the lecture if I split my winning with you? Theresa's voice asked in Susan's mind. Susan could practically see the smirk on the Fire Guardian's face.

You'd have to give me all the winning to get that lucky! How much was in the dam thing anyway? Susan responded to the message. She got an instant response from Anna saying, In total, $500 bucks. I really wish you only insulted Liz or I would have won!

Don't call me that! Elizabeth yelled into the link, while Susan and Theresa debated on who should be the one to get the money from the betting pool. The five had the mental link conversation down to an art; they could argue all they wanted with out making anyone wonder why they were so quite.

This was good thing, since only Tom and Chen knew of the Guardian business. Tom found out because he originally wanted to be a PI instead of being a police officer, and used the skills he was practicing as a teen to figure out why his girlfriend was acting so strange for months. In the end he followed them around until one time he saw them transform for magic practice and thus the cat was out of the bag.

After he got used to the idea of Anna being a magic pixie that fought evil, they became closer and got married when they were old enough. It was because of Anna's job as a Guardian that made Tom join the force, so the Guardians always had someone on the inside, who could keep and eye and ear out anything unusual going on in Heatherfield.

Chen on the other hand, found in a slightly different way. He was getting upset that the girl he had a crush on was always running out on him during dates with her friends. The fact his mother seemed to be more aware of the reasons then he was also frustrated him, and was casing rift between him, Yan Lin, and Joan. This made both former and current Air Guardians fess up before the damage became too great to repair.

Chen shut himself in his room for two weeks before finally speaking to either of them again. Even once they were back speaking terms, it took three months before he fully absorbed and accepted the facts about Joan and his mother.

Chen could not help as much Tom when it came to Guardians matters, since he was a simple cook and part owner of the family restaurant. But he tried to act as moral support whenever he could and cover for Joan when it was necessary.

"So Susan, what sort of blackmail did these four have to use to get you to come this year?" Lionel asked, who got a firm punch in the shoulder from his wife while Susan responded. "They cornered me when they were helping me finish up my Christmas shopping. It's probably for the best anyway; Wilma will enjoy being around girls her own age."

"Speaking of Wilma, someone better help her before Irma mugs her." Anna called out and pointed over to the door. Will was cowering up against the now closed door, while Irma was trying to get a look at whose name was on what present.

"Wilma, just kick in Irma in the shin! That should make her back off.' Susan called over as she went to put her load of gifts under the tree. Irma just laughed at her 'Aunt's' comment as she called back, "Ya right! She's shaking so much she probably couldn't…OWE!"

Everyone turned to look at Irma again to see her jumping on one foot while holding the other with her hand. It did not take a genesis to figure out 'Wilma' had taken Susan's advise to heart and was now slowly trying to slip past the hopping girl. Unfortunately for Irma though, Will accidentally stepped in Irma's foot in the process causing Irma to let out another loud yelp, and landed on her butt.

Will was looking back and fourth between Irma and the group, looking she was scared she going to get into trouble, but instead everyone (but Irma) burst out laughing. "That should teach you Irma to not going spying on gifts until they are UNDER the tree!" Susan called over to her 'niece' who was still nursing her shin and foot.

Will stilled looked like a deer caught in the head lights, so it took the combined efforts of Yan Lin, Joan and Anna to unload Will of her cargo, get her out of her coat and boots and seat to the couch. Susan then sat next to the redhead, who seemed heavily intent on staying as close to the dark haired woman as possible.

Both Susan and Yan Lin told the others in advance to expect shy behavior from 'Wilma' but it seemed she was a bit more intimidated then expected. It probably did not help the redhead's confidence to have taken out one of the girl by just walking through the front door (even though everyone besides its victim found it amusing)

---

After an hour, Will was still clutching her mother's hand and curled up to her side. Will had never been around so many people because of her father and few she had been around usually hurt her as well. Serena was the first person in a long time to not do this, she may have loved Tony but hated his treatment of Will.

It was thanks to Serena that Will was here right now, since the professional supermodel was the one who dig the digging to find Will's mother's name and address. Serena was even the one who paid for Will bus ticket to Heatherfield and told Will to find a better life.

'If I deserved one, I wish it would like this. That girl I hurt does not seemed to be mad at me, even though I kicked and stepped on her and mom is as kind I dreamed she would be. But do I really deserve to have family like this one…even thought they all seems a little crazy.' Will thought as she watched the friendly bickering and jokes among those present.

Will giggled as she watched Irma and the girl she found out Cornelia bicker about as much as Elizabeth and Susan did. It got even funnier when every kept going from referee, to siding with one person, then siding with the other. There was a couple of time when she noticed some of the woman would stair or glance at one another, as if able to communicate with just eyes contact.

Will just shook those thoughts off, since she knew that was impossible. 'If they can talk to each other with out speaking, then I can shoot lighting bolts and speak to electrical appliances' Will thought as she continued listen to the conversation going on through out the room. Unknown to her though, the Oracle was chuckling at the irony of the redhead's mental comment.

---

Outside, unseen by anyone in either the cabin or anyone else on the mountain, a blue portal formed nearby and three figures stepped out of it. "I hope we aren't too late. That meeting went on longer then expected" The Queen of Meridian, also known as Elyon Brown, said while on Earth.

"I'm sure the Guardians will understand your highness. They know of your responsibly better than anyone." Tall man with a shaggy beard said as adjusted the positioning of the large sack he carried on his back.

"Julian, please be careful about calling me that while we are here. The Guardians may know about Meridian and my role there but no one else does except for Tom and Chen. The same goes for you, Caleb!" Elyon said in tone that was both a mix of commanding and begging (though there begging in it then anything else)

"I know my Queen, I'll be careful once we are inside and so will my son." Julian assured Elyon and they headed towards the cabin after Elyon shut the portal behind them. Once they were a bit closer, Elyon whipped up an illusion of a black van so no one wondered how they really arrived, then they headed for the front door.

---

When Will heard a knock at the door she jumped a bit, but Susan calmed her down. "Don't worry just the last few people probably showing up right now. You answer it while I go help set the table." Susan told Will, as she slowly and gently peeled her hand free from the redhead's grasp.

Will looked up at her with a pleading expression on her face, but her mother's encouraging smile made the redhead give into her mother's request. She went over to the door, wondering why the other girls were pinning Cornelia down all of sudden. 'This is one strange family,' Will thought as opened the door.

"Hello?" Will said as she saw Elyon, Caleb and Julian standing in front of her. As he made eye contact with Caleb though, she felt strange. She felt lightheaded and warm all over; it was a completely new feeling to her.

'He is so handsome…wait did I just think that? Bad Will! Bad! You don't even know who is!' Will scolded herself as she blushed ever so lightly, which did not go unnoticed by Julian.

'Well this should prove to be interesting if this means what I think it means.' Julian mused as Elyon spoke to the redheaded girl. "Hello, you must be Wilma. We were told there would be a new face this year. I'm Elyon Brown and this Julian and his son Caleb…mind if we come in, it's really cold out here."

This quickly brought Will back to reality and stepped aside to let three people through. "S-Sorry about that. I'm a bit of a scatter brain some times." Will said apologetically, scolding herself for acting like such an idiot.

"Its alright…Caleb has that effect on girls" Elyon replied, saying the last part as a whisper to Will, who's face was brighter then Rudolf's nose. Elyon suppressed the urge to giggle, while Julian gave a friendly grin as he past by.

Caleb closed the door behind them; he wondered why the new girl was looking at him so strangely but he had long since given up understanding the females of this world. "Are you feeling alright? You're looking a little red." Caleb asked reaching to touch Will's forehead, but will pulled away too quickly.

"Oh it's nothing! Um…I better go help Susan." With that Will rushed off, hoping she could avoid making a bigger fool of herself.

Caleb meanwhile scratched his head in confusion as he watched the redhead leave. 'And Dad says they get easier to understand eventually? Ya right!' Caleb then looked down to see Cornelia still struggling to get up from the dog pile that was on top of her.

'Oh, so that's why she is not hanging all over me? Wonder if they can hold her like that all night?' Caleb wondered, but his hopes were destroyed when he heard Yan Lin call out, "Dinner is ready! Everyone take a seat at the dinning room table!"

Caleb cursed himself for jinxing it, and quickly ran for the table hoping that the spots on either side of him would be occupied before Cornelia got to the table.

---

Will's mouth watered at the sight of all the food that was at the large table. The smell of turkey, ham, stuffing and assorted vegetables was almost over whelming and almost made her want to cry with joy. The fact she was able to spend time with her mother (even if the woman did not know it) made it even better.

"Remember Wilma, you can take your time. No need to scarf it down like you did with the soup my dear." Yan Lin whispered as she went past, so to help the girl avoid any uncomfortable scenes. Will blushed a little at the suggestion, but Susan gave Will a reassuring look that said 'Don't worry about it'.

Will felt a bit better because of this, but she would feel even greater if Cornelia was not trying to hang onto Caleb so much. 'I should have known that a guy like him would already have a girl. Not that he would have been interested in me even if he was single' Will thought as she looked away from the scene.

Susan had to smile at 'Wilma's' antics; she could tell the young girl was a bit smitten by the young man across from them. 'She'll find out soon enough that Caleb has nothing but brotherly feeling for Cornelia soon enough. Wishing Cornelia would figure that out though.' Susan mused as everyone started to load his or her plates with food.

---

After dinner was over, everyone went back to the living room to watch a few Christmas movies before finally calling it a night. "Susan, are you sleeping on the fold out couch or do you want to trade with one of us this year?" Elizabeth asked as every started making plans for who was sleeping where that night.

"Ya I'm sticking my usual spot. I'm the only one who is single so you guys should take the rooms." Susan replied as she got up to start unfolding the couch. "Does that mean we should both take the fold out bed then? Since I'm single as well." Julian joked, which had Susan throwing one of the couch's pillows at him. Julian managed to duck the soft projectile, but Theresa caught the pillow and whacked Julian over the head with it.

"Hey I keep it one on one!" Julian protested as he rubbed his head. This caused everyone to laugh and once again tried to sort out who was going where. The only one not taking part of this was Will. Though she had relaxed significantly since the meal and was much more comfortable being around everyone now, she wanted to still stay at her mother's side.

Susan noted this reluctance and quickly put a plan into action. "Wilma, go get changed for bed and you can sleep here tonight. I don't mind sharing." Susan offered and smiled when she saw the redhead's expression brighten. Will then grabbed her pajamas and rushed up to the bathroom to change.

"Wow and I here thought Corny was the fastest at claiming the bathroom." Irma joked and started running before Cornelia could kill her for calling her Corny.

---

Later that night, everyone was fast asleep. Will and Susan were sleeping next to one another. But then Will started thrashing about for some reason and said in her sleep, "Daddy, please stop!"

Dream:

Will was much younger now, about six years old and was cowering in a corner, as her father started moving towards her. "You worthless little brat! You think anyone would actually care about you? Obviously I have beaten you enough!" Tony yelled as reached to grab Will.

But the tiny dream managed to dive past him and started running. "Mommy cares! She'll love me!" The small girl screamed as ran into the darkness of her nightmare. As she ran, Will changed back to her normal twelve year old self. She kept running until she light in the darkness.

Will ran for it and saw her mother standing the middle if the pillar of light. "Mom!" Will called out as she ran toward her mother. But just as Will got within arms reach, something grabbed her arms and helped her back.

"For someone who care about you, she seems to be strangely reluctant to help!" The voice of Tony Vandom hissed into Will's ear as dragged her away from the light. The redhead struggled as she called out, "Mom! Please help me!"

But Will's please seemed to fall on death ears as the light got further and further in the distance.

End of Dream

"Don't leave me!" Will begged as she shot up into a sitting potion at looked around the room. While Will's mind was still trying to make sense between the dream world and reality, Susan shot up as in surprise and worry.

"Wilma, what's wrong? Are you alright?" Susan asked as she started to reach for Will, but the redhead dove into Susan's chest and started crying. Susan was a bit surprised by the action, but quickly accepted the embrace and started to rock the redhead back and fourth.

"It's alright Wilma. What ever it was, it was just a night…" Susan started to say, but Will interrupted Susan's attempted at comfort. "My…my name is not Wilma. Please don't be mad I lied to you!" Will begged into Susan chest. These words making the dark haired woman go silent, greatly fearing and anticipating what the redhead would say next.

"Dad kept telling me you hated me and left us, but I needed to know for sure so I tried to find you. It was thanks to Dad's girlfriend, Serena, I finally did. When I arrived in Heatherfield, I wanted to find out more about you before I finally talked to you. But then you caught me and I was not ready, so I started lying and putting off telling you until now." The sobbing girl confessed into her mother's chest. The dream and frightened her so much she finally decided to confess and get it over with. That way if her mother got angry and threw her away for second time, Will could just get it over with already.

Susan just looked down at the sobbing girl in shock. It would seem that her friends' guess was actually accurate, despite the odds of it being wrong were very high. 'So close to me and was not even entirely aware of it. It seemed so unlikely I put off as wishful thinking but…' Susan thought as she clutch her newly found daughter.

After a few minutes, Will finally pulled away and started to climb out of the bed. 'Y-You probably don't even want to be near me, so I'll just go find…" Will started to say in a quiet tone, but then was grabbed from behind and pulled back into the bed.

"N-N-No! Please don't hurt me!" Will started to beg, but suddenly found herself in loving embrace, instead of being brutally assaulted. "I should have tried harder to find you, Wilhelmina." Susan whispered into Will's ear as she started cry.

Hearing those words made Will instantly stop struggling and relax, drawing comfort from her mother's hug. Will had never been held by anyone before, she had grabbed dragged or pinned but never held, so for Will it was wonderful experience.

As Will slowly nuzzled up against her mother chest again, a voice said, "And here I thought I was going to need to leave a note in your mother's stalking for her to find out Ho! Ho! Ho!"

Both Will and Susan broke away from each other and looked over to see the one of the most famous people in the world standing in front of the fireplace. "He…He…He actually exists!" Will gasped as stared at the one and only Santa Claus.

"Of course I exist Wilhelmina! I'm standing right here aren't! I would have visited you sooner, but your father made that rather difficult for the last few years with all of his Santa doesn't exit rants. I can't enter a house that has no believers in it, but this place has more then its share so it's not a problem now." Santa explained before going about his normal task of filling the stocking and putting gifts under the tree.

What really surprised Will was that Santa put an extra stocking on the fire place and filled it with candy and small objects, placed twelve gifts of to one side but still neat the and gave Will a wink. "I hope you don't mind that I picked that up from apartment Susan, but I thought you would want little Will to have it for her first Christmas." Santa said to the new mother, gesturing to the stocking.

"No it's fine." Susan said a friendly smile, which had her daughter staring at in shock. Her mother was talking Santa Claus like it was no big deal! To Will her mother should be freaking out or something.

"She has many stranger things me, my dear. Besides this is not the first time she has seen me in person." Santa said with a small chuck, as if reading Will's mind (and probably did)

"Well I must be going. I'll see you next year Will, so be good!" Santa said just before vanished up the chimney, leaving a still stunned Will sitting next to her mother. Eventually Susan gently pushed in daughter back down onto the mattress and pulled Will close as they drifted back to sleep.

---

The next morning, the newly reunited mother and daughter were woken up, by two young voices yelling out, "It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" This made the two sit up to see both Lillian and Chris charging down the stairs, followed by the older kids, then by the adults. The adults were little less excited the younger generation and still looked a little sleepy, with the exception of Yan Lin who seemed to be as full as much pep and vigour as the young ones (much to the annoyance of most of the other adults)

"It should be illegal for someone that old to have that much energy at her age." Theresa grumbled as she and the other parents gathered in the living room, so they could begin the fun part of giving and receiving gifts.

They started with the stockings, so the adults had time consume large amounts of coffee and have the energy needed to keep up with the kids. Everyone (except Will and Susan) was a bit confused as to how a stocking with the name Wilhelmina got up on the fireplace mantle until Will said, "I...prefer being called Will."

This made all those present gasp at the little admission on Will's part, one that had Anna calling out "I knew it! And now we have our long lost niece back!" The woman then rushed hugged Will, with rest of the Guardians rushing over to do the same. It took a while for Susan a while convince Tony, Lionel and Theresa to put off the questioning on where Tony was, since they tied for second place to see that the man paid for what he did (Susan claim the first place spot)

"We can go after him when ever we want. Right now lets focus on celebrating we have Wilhelmina back. Besides, the little ones are looking eager to get to work at making a mess." Susan said as she gestured to the two youngest members of the family, who were eyeing the mountain of presents under the tree.

It took a good part of the morning for all the presents to be unwrapped, considering the size of the group present. Everyone but the Guardians (and Tom and Chen) were surprised by the twelve separate gifts from Santa. Lillian and Chris were actually more jealous then surprised, but that was because they were still very young.

"Now that we have all that out of the way, I think its time we got Will's little surprise." Elizabeth said with a big grin on her face, which all the adults shared as well. Will did not know if she should be scared or not, until she saw several more gifts were bright into the room, all with name Wilma on them.

"There is not much variety in the gifts since we had limited knowledge of your likes and dislikes..." Anna started to say, before Irma jumped in and added, "Or your real name." This got her a swat over the head as Anna continued, "So we kept most of them to what we knew you would need."

Will was wiping away tears of happiness as she replied, "It doesn't matter. You all got me presents; even though you thought I was total stranger. I just wish I was able to give you all something as well."

This made Susan pull her daughter closer and say, "You came back into our lives. I think that is your gift to all of us, especially me. Now go ahead and start unwrapping." With that Will nodded her head and tore into the mountain gifts that had been brought out for her.

Most of Will's gifts were clothes, there was also music CDs, a few things for when Will started school and gift cards so Will could go out and get things she wanted. The Guardians knew they could not get much frog related stuff, since it would be hard to explain why they just happened to pick out thing that girl wanted to collect. That did not stop then of course, the just needed to discrete in doing it.

By the time Will was done, everyone was starting to get ready to go out to enjoy the sloped when Joan went up to Will and placed her palm on the girl's forehead. Will was confused by the action until she heard her 'aunt' say, "Seems like Will's fever is starting to come back. Susan, you and her should stay here and rest up, just to be safe. You guys can ski anytime this week since we are up here for the rest of the holidays."

The Guardians easily picked up and Joan's plan. They could tell she was trying to give Will and Susan some real Mother-Daughter time together, so they all went along with it. "Ya that would be for the best. Don't want her getting sick again now do we?" Susan replied as she wrapped her arms around Will, who still very confused at what was going on.

While the other went to go finishing getting changed to go out, Susan took Will back over to the bed and whispered, "How about we watch some movies after they are gone?" Will smiled at her mother and nodded as curled up next to her and said, "I'd like that...mom I love and I'm sorry I did not tell you sooner."

"I love you too, sweetheart, and don't worry about it. You were scared because of what your father told you. We are going to need to have talk about him soon, but for now let's just enjoy the moment." Susan replied back as they waited for everyone to leave, before starting their movie marathon.

---

Meanwhile in Candracar, the Oracle watched the scene and smiled. 'The Keeper might never forgive me for not letting her find her daughter sooner, but the elements said the girl needed to be put through all that if she was to inherit the Heart. Neither may know it yet, but the trial the future Keeper went through gave her strength as great as her mother's, if not greater.' The Oracle thought as he turned to head for the Auramere chamber.

Now that the future Keeper was back with her mother, things needed to be prepared for the passing the elements. He knew the soon to be former would not like hearing their daughters were the next Guardians, but they were who the elements chose.

With their help, Queen Elyon's rein would be solidified, since the new Guardians would have the much needed free time to help put down Phobos once and for all. Their mothers' were to bogged down with supporting their families to be able to provide enough help to do it, the they still did a wonderful job of at least weakening the Prince for the next generation to move in and finish the task.

'But it will be several months before they can begin. So for now enjoy yourselves, young Guardians, and Merry Christmas.'

---

Well there you go, please let me know what you think.


End file.
